Over the Queen’s Birthday weekend, spec fic fans gathered for Continuum 13: Triskaidekaphilia. Continuum is always a great convention, and this year it was also the Aussie Natcon so it was also the host of the annual Ditmar Awards (the Australian popular vote awards for spec fic).

It was a great list of nominees, who all would have been deserving winners…the only problem being that not everyone can win! I was very happy to see a number of friends pick up an award, and especially thrilled that the 2016 Australian SF Snapshot won the Best Fan Publication in any Medium (a particularly competitive category).

Photo thanks to the awesomely fingernailed @thiefofcamorr Another lovely design from Kathleen Jennings

I’d been pretty sick in the week leading up to the convention, and didn’t see much of it at all. And, I didn’t expect to get pushed up front to say anything when we accepted the award! I doubt I made sense, but the gist of it was that it’s always an honour to be even a small part of something like the Snapshot. A lot of people put in a huge amount of their time and effort, and the result is something significant–a celebration of the incredible range of talent present in the Aussie scene.

Not at my best!

Congrats to all the winners!

Best Novel: The Grief Hole, Kaaron Warren, IFWG Publishing Australia.

Best Novella or Novelette: “Did We Break the End of the World?”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, in Defying Doomsday, Twelfth Planet Press.

Back in 2015, I was lucky enough to be part of an amazing collaborative event put together by the talented Dr. Laura E. Goodin. The Cabinet of Oddities, a show piece of original compositions for flute inspired by short stories from a group of Australian Spec Fic writers, was first performed at Conflux X. Since then, it has also appeared at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

My story, Guardians of Her Galaxy, was used as the inspiration for a composition by Gary Butler, and performed by flautist Angus McPherson. I can’t express how honoured I was to have played even a small part in the result.

So, I was thrilled to hear that Gary has recently become part of the Melbourne Composers League. You can find out more about his many achievements here. You’ll also find a number of videos of his work, including a performance of Guardians of Her Galaxy.

The 2017 Ditmar Awards Ballot has been released, and I think it’s goimg to cause a lot of people some real problems in deciding who gets their vote–talk about a strong list!

I’m delighted to see a number of my friends and mentors on the list and, as always, honoured to see my name mentioned alongside them. I was grateful to be included in some great projects last year, and it’s wonderful to see them recognised

I have shamelessly stolen the full ballot from the official site, and at the end you’ll find the details of how to vote. Regardless of who you vote for, I do think it is important that everyone eligible to vote does so, because the more people engaged with the awards, the more they reflect the whole community.

Good luck to all the nominees, and whether you win or not, congratulations on your well deserved recognition!

The Ditmar subcommittee are pleased to announce that voting for the Australian SF (“Ditmar”) Award for 2017 is now open, and will remain open until one minute before midnight Melbourne time on Sunday, 14th of May, 2017 (ie. 11.59pm, GMT+10).

WILLIAM ATHELING JR. AWARD FOR CRITICISM OR REVIEW —————————————————————–

Kat Clay for essays and reviews in “Weird Fiction Review”. Tehani Croft & Marisol Dunham, for “Revisiting Pern: the great McCaffrey reread” review series. Tsana Dolichva, for reviews, in Tsana’s Reads and Reviews. Kate Forsyth, for The Rebirth of Rapunzel: a mythic biography of the maiden in the tower, FableCroft Publishing. Ian Mond, for reviews, in The Hysterical Hamster. Alexandra Pierce, for reviews, in Randomly Yours, Alex. Gillian Polack, for History and Fiction: Writers, their Research, Worlds and Stories, Peter Lang.

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Votes can be sent via email to:

ditmars@sf.org.au

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Note that some categories include more than five nominees due to tied nomination numbers, while others include fewer than five nominees, either because insufficient eligible nominees received the required minimum number of nominations for the category, or because ties meant that more than seven nominees would have appeared on the ballot.

The online voting system provides a passworded facility to adjust your vote at any time before the close of voting.

Alternatively, votes will be accepted via email to:

ditmars@sf.org.au

Postal ballots will be distributed in the near future.

Voting for the Ditmar Award is conducted in accordance with the rules specified here, and is open to members of Continuum 13(including supporting members) and to members of Contact 2016 who were eligible to vote in the 2016 Award.

Voting in all award categories is by the optional preferential system, and each eligible individual may vote only once. All ballots (including emailed ballots) should include the name and address of the voter. If you have questions regarding the ballot or voting procedure, please email ditmars@sf.org.au.

In the mad scramble to get things done before my overseas trip, I forgot to do a roundup post for the Aussie Spec Fic Snapshot! There were a heap of amazing interviews (that you can find by following that link), and I was lucky enough interview some incredibly talented people. I’ve listed the people I interviewed below, but I would encourage you to check out the rest, too.

Oh, and if you get really bored, I was snapshotted, too–by the wonderful Tehani, our fearless leader.

I have been so caught up with the Aussie Snapshot that I forgot how close Worldcon is! *freaks out a little*

I am delighted to have been invited to be on a few panels, and I have no doubt I will have a blast when not doing programming.

If you are at the con, and want to catch up, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. And, I am always happy to be approached at a convention, in fact I am far too shy to approach people so that works way better for me!

Australian SF is largely Anglophone, and often considered part of the Anglo-American tradition. Yet, because of Australia’s physical isolation, the development of the book and literary trade here has been very different and Australian writing has a distinct flavour. It has also been heavily influenced by Aborigines, and there is a growing body of speculative fiction published and written by Aboriginal writers. We discuss the SF works coming from Australia.

Tie-ins aren’t novelizations, and they’re not adaptations. So, what are they and what purpose do they serve? Moreover, what effect might they have on the source material? Panelists discuss tie-ins and how they affect the universe that they are set in.

The Build-a-World Game Show is a live action worldbuilding game designed and run by Monica Valentinelli. Two teams of panelists compete to build a fantastic world in under an hour for fun and prizes. The Build-a-World Game Show incorporates audience participation, takes place in three rounds, and results in a fan-voted winner!

Dialog in Game of Thrones: Great Storytelling through Ordinary ConversationsSaturday 16:00 – 17:00, 2207 (Kansas City Convention Center)

A single word can convey pages of subtext when it’s the right word. The Game of Thrones television series does an exceptional job of using dialog to convey character, mood, historical context, themes, narrative arcs, and more within some of the simplest (and yet most revealing) conversations. Panelsts discuss some of their favorite moments of dialog from the series and the impact that these exchanges have on the characters and viewers alike.

The Aussie Spec Fic Snapshot has taken place five times in the past 11 years. In 2005, Ben Peek spent a frantic week interviewing 43 people in the Australian spec fic scene, and since then, it’s grown every time, now taking a team of interviewers working together to accomplish.

To celebrate the release of Alan Baxter’s trilogy (the Alex Caine Series), I asked him a few questions about this funny old game called writing…

How does your background in martial arts affect your writing?

It’s taught me discipline and focus. I’m slowly making notes for a book on the subject, in fact, as the parallels are legion. But being good at anything requires dedication – that’s focus and discipline above all else.

Over the course of your writing career, you have experimented with numerous media, from game writing to podcasting, and different distribution models, from self publishing to big name publishing. What are some of the differences you have noticed? How important is it for writers to be flexible and open to different methods?

There are so many differences, it would take an essay just to touch on them all. But in short, there are all kinds of pros and cons with all of them. No one way is perfect. I think, especially in this day and age, that it’s important for a writer to be open to different methods. We’re seeing more and more people achieve success with the hybrid model (which means some traditional publishing and some self-publishing). I definitely fit into that model and think it’s been valuable for me. It’s also important to consider a variety of different income streams to make a career. If you score a good deal with a big publisher, that’s fantastic, but if that publisher goes down they can take your career with them. At least if your career is diversified over various publishers, various media, you can always have protection if any one thing stops working. And stuff is slow in publishing, so a variety of things means hopefully always having something happening.

Are there some things that stay the same, or relevant, across the board?

Quality. Regardless of what methods you choose, the simple fact of the matter is that you must have a quality manuscript. You must put out your best work. Of course, we all know about the really successful utter shit that gets published and makes its author a squillionaire, but the simple fact is that while the thing may be subjectively (or even objectively!) terrible, there’s something about it that works for readers. There’s a reason it’s doing so well, and while it may not be quality the way we perceive it, it is perceived value for all those fans. So whatever you’re doing, don’t worry about anyone else’s stuff, just make yours as good as it can possibly be.

How important is social media, or has been, to your success?

It’s very important these days. You can make a career without it, but it’s getting harder and harder to do that. And even if an author isn’t very active on social media, the activity of that author’s fans and readers is essential to continued growth. People are paying more attention to recommendations via social media than pretty much any other source now, so it’s important to be in it in some way. BUT! If you don’t like it, if you don’t enjoy it and can’t act like yourself, don’t do it. There’s no point in forcing yourself and faking it, because people see through that in an instant and you’re wasting your time. I really enjoy the engagement of social media, so for me it’s fun and it definitely helps.

What’s one mistake you’ve made as a writer that you would warn new or upcoming writers against?

Only one? Man, that’s a tough question. I don’t want to admit to any mistakes! I’m sure I’ve made plenty, but thankfully nothing so far that’s been devastating for me. I think it’s just important to always work hard, to always learn and try to get better, to always be a decent person to work with. If you constantly strive for those things, everything else should slowly fall into place.

Alan Baxter is a British-Australian author who writes dark fantasy, horror and sci-fi, rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. He also teaches Kung Fu. He lives among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of NSW, Australia, with his wife, son, dog and cat. He’s the award-winning author of several novels and over sixty short stories and novellas. So far. Read extracts from his novels, a novella and short stories at his website – www.warriorscribe.com – or find him on Twitter @AlanBaxter andFacebook, and feel free to tell him what you think. About anything.

If you’re in Melbourne this weekend, you should come and check out Continuum XII – Melbourne’s very own spec fic convention. From the website:

Continuum is an annual fan run speculative fiction and pop culture convention. From sci-fi to epic fantasy and everything in between, Continuum 12 will celebrate the theme “Stranger Than Fiction”. Continuum runs every year on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. In 2016 the convention will be held between June 10-13.

Run by fans for fans, Continuum features a great line up of writers and creative artists in the heart of Australia’s most artistic city, Melbourne. The guests of honor at the next convention will be Queenie Chan and Kylie Chan.

Friday night is gold coin donation if you want to get a cheap taste, but be warned–it’s unlikely you can stop at one night!

I will be there all weekend, and I am on a number of panels (see below). Hope to see you there!

Enjoyed by some, reviled by others, and with a Rotten Tomatoes score only 2% higher than Green Lantern, BvS has had a rather mixed reception. What happened? Is Batfleck a worthy successor and just how badass is Wonder Woman? Warning: SPOILERS (Duh)

How do the personal opinions and actions of an author affect the reception of their work and do we really care? Should an author’s personal and professional lives remain separate or should we boycott problematic authors?